Project Z
by Norman Steel
Summary: G.U.N.The protector of the United Federation, the crib of heroes as some may call it; but every rose has its thorns and GUN is no exception. After a boy by the name of Zack has a dream of a past he never lived, G.U.N. starts to invest all of their resources to capture him, as he tries to escape he must find out who he is and why G.U.N. wants him so badly. Pairings will develop late
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own SEGA, Prison Island, G.U.N. or Station Square. Now stop wasting your time reading this disclaimer and check the bloody story.**

**PD: It's not really that bloody.**

"**There's only one way Buddy, you gotta fight for what you believe in." Larry Foulke. "Solo Wing Pixy."**

**Prison Island (10 days after the incident at the ARK.)**

Things in Prison Island were always the same.

Everyone had their usual routine, occasionally a prisoner would be dropped off in the main building, but if you were a researcher then life was almost boring for you. There never was a day in which you did anything different, that was unless you were one of the big shots.

Otherwise, you were stuck like a young boy called Kid. Son of the lead researcher in Prison Island facility; at his young age of 17 it would seem that he would follow his father's steps due to the intelligence he had for his age; but he had his sights set on something else. Something nearly every person has considered at least once in his lifetime, be it a fleeting dream or a real objective.

Being a soldier.

Of course, that's hard when you have little to no muscular mass and you have the height of a 15 year old. Still that didn't stop him from trying, many people have told him to simply try his luck as a researcher, with his father in charge he had no possibilities of failure, to which he would reply.

"Life gives you the easy way, and the hard way. I've never been an easy kind of guy."

That could be easily seen, considering the fact that he has failed his physical exam for over twenty times and he hasn't given up at all, if all he seemed more determined after each failure. He didn't fail at the resistance portion of the exam, neither at the agility part; in fact he excelled in both of those departments. He simply lacked brute force or what soldiers called "true strength."

Kid had the habit of walking around the base when he was bored, though the sites were nearly the same as always. Occasionally he would hear a rumor coming from a boasting high ranked officer or a cook that stayed in the room more time than he should.

That routine would soon be broken, by the sound of alarms on the base. That was rare occasion and Kid couldn't help but follow the flow of the soldiers, however he was stopped at the entrance of the landing pad.

"Move out of the way Kid!" yelled a soldier.

"Stay in your room, this is not a game!" yelled a scientist who pushed him behind the entrance.

"_As if I didn't know that, they really need to stop treating me like a little kid. I'm seventeen for goodness sake! I'm just shorter than normal people."_ Thought Kid with annoyance as he turned around towards the sleeping quarters.

The crowd was beginning to get bigger and since he was going in the opposite direction he was slowly getting "eaten" by the crowd. Until one hand picked him by the collar and dragged him to the facility, he then dropped him on the floor rather roughly; Kid looked up to see a soldier completely covered by the G.U.N. soldiers' standard uniform. He took off his helmet to reveal a short red haired teenager who had a goofy grin on his face.

"Kid, you alright? Things were looking kind of bad for you out there." Said the owner of the hand.

"I'm fine, thanks Pyro." Said Kid.

"I have a name you know and I would like for people to use it." Said the soldier.

"Fine Lucy." Said Kid mockingly.

"Ok, first of all. It's Luscious, second of all, just John is enough." Said the soldier as he punched Kid slightly in the shoulder.

"Say, shouldn't you be with the other soldiers outside?" asked Kid.

"Nope, apparently my recent accidents have made them wary about me and according to the big guys everything has to go "absolutely perfect." Said John with a big smile on his face.

"Catch you later Lucy." Said Kid mockingly as he ran towards the stairs of the building.

"You'll pay for this Kid." Said John jokingly.

Kid ran through the stairs fairly quickly and entered the office at the end of the hall. It was a very messy workspace considering that the only pieces of furniture were the desk, the chair and a bookcase.

"Dad!" yelled Kid

A man in a doctor's robe was reading a letter that laid on his desk. He had black unkempt hair and it seemed as if he hadn't shaven in days. He took his eyes off the letter at the sound of his son and smiled at him.

"Hey Kid, how're you doing?" asked the father.

"They're here dad, and they're bringing something big!" said the boy.

"Atta boy! Thanks for warning me, news don't travel here so often anymore." Said the father as he ruffled the boy's hair.

"Dad, I'm not a little kid anymore!" said the boy angrily.

"You'll still be Kid to me." Said the father as he stood up and put the letters in a box at the corner. He then walked out of the door, probably towards the deck. The boy, in a sudden surge of teenage curiosity, walked towards the box and grabbed the letters and began to read them.

_To the lead scientist stationed in Prison Island._

_As you know by now, Operation Colonize was a failure. Though the scientist in charge of the project, Dr. Gerald Robotnik, has been successfully captured and the rest of the crew was killed, we failed to complete our true objective: Capture the Ultimate Life Form known as Project Shadow. The space colony ARK, was shut down and the children on board were taken to a safe location, it seemed as if the incident would stay at that._

_That was until yesterday._

_At exactly 0045 hours a capsule was found on a small island surrounding Prison Island, upon closer inspection the presence of Project Shadow was confirmed. He seemed to be in a comatose state and several burns could be seen across his body, retrieval of the body is scheduled to happen today at 0900 hours. _

_It's your duty to investigate how to harness the power of the ultimate life form; this could help us find cures to all diseases or even cure disabilities before they are even formed. Though that's not what we really want…. _

_He will be sealed in a cryogenic chamber in level 7; you will perform all of your research there, and finish Project Z, I'm sure that the Ultimate Life Form will make things easier for you._

_Sincerely the Commander._

The boy kept reading the other papers which included blueprints for an organic life form, all the while he was thinking.

"_Project Shadow…. Robotnik? Why does that name sound so familiar?" thought the boy._

He then heard a voice coming from the hallway.

"Doctor? Are you here?" asked a voice.

The boy quickly hid the letters on the box and sat on the chair of his dad. He saw one of the partners of his father peeking into the room.

"Oh, it's only you." Said the doctor with disappointment.

"Yep, only me. If you're looking for him, he's at the landing pad outside." Said Kid nervously.

"I know.." said the doctor in a low voice, he then left the office quickly. After making sure he was gone he tiptoed out of the room and quickly ran through the hallway, however as he approached the crowd someone stepped in his way.

"Hey Kid, what's up. Gee, look at the time, I need your help with some ah…. Um fireworks!" said John as he quickly grabbed him and ran off to John's "secret" lair/workshop at the warehouse of the facility.

"Hey! Let me go! I want to see what's all this about!" said Kid who was struggling against John's iron grip. After a while he stopped, realizing that he couldn't get out of this just by struggling. As he accepted his fate he began thinking about the letter and all the blueprints in his father's office.

"_So… an Ultimate Life-form, I have to see this for myself! But I'm sure dad wouldn't let me, he doesn't let me go any deeper than level 3. I could always sneak in, but if I get caught I would get my dad into trouble! Also, what's with Project Z?" _thought Kid.

"Yo buddy, still alive?" asked John with a concerned expression.

"Yeah… just thinking." Said Kid.

"Well I think you can stop, we're here." Said John as he finally put the boy on the ground. In front of him were several explosives, many complete and others in construction.

"So, with which explosive did you need my help with?" asked the boy.

"Urk!" said John as he was clearly struggling with what he was about to say. That caused Kid to give him a glare and ask.

"You didn't need my help right?"

"Not really, sorry." Said John as he looked at the floor guiltily.

"Did my father tell you to do this?" asked Kid.

"Yes, something about this being top secret." Said John.

"Project Shadow?" asked Kid. That earned a surprised look coming from John who held his finger in front of his lips; he then closed the doors and shut the windows. He grabbed a couple of chairs that were in a corner and set them up, after both of them sat down John asked.

"Where did you hear about it?"

"I have my ways." Said Kid with a smirk.

"No…. I need to know!" said John who looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown.

"Hey! Calm down, I figured it out on my own alright. You know how I am." Said Kid as he tried to calm down John.

"You're right…." Said John, he slowly began taking deep breaths and after a while of doing that he managed to calm down.

"What do you know about it?" asked Kid.

"Um…. Nothing, why do you ask?" said John casually.

"You just got all freaked out about it, you need to know something. By the way how do you know? Isn't this like top secret?" asked the boy as he tried to give him the most threatening glare he could manage. It had the desired effect as John suddenly smirked and said.

"Checkmate Kid."

He then sighed and said.

"I'm going to regret this. How much do you know about the space colony ARK?" asked John seriously.

"Only that it was shut down during Operation Colonize and that Project Shadow was being developed there." Said Kid.

"I see….. Project Shadow was a special creation of Dr. Gerald Robotnik. By ways not yet clear to us, he managed to create a flawless organic being, immune to disease and the course of time, he was called The Ultimate Life Form." Said John.

"Wait! Is he the Robotnik, the one Leon speaks like if he was the greatest man ever to live?" asked Kid.

"The one and only." Said John with a small smirk.

"Wow, and why did he make such a perfect being?" asked Kid.

"From what I know, he was made to find a cure for his niece's sickness." Said John, his eyes suddenly drifting off.

"Then why did G.U.N. attack the colony? He was doing it for a good cause so why did they shut down the research?" asked the boy with slight anger.

John only looked at him with the same grim expression that was starting to scare the boy.

"That wasn't the only thing developed on the ARK, there were many failed experiments called artificial chaos. Supposedly they were built from replicas of an ancient god of an extinct civilization and then there's the pride of the ARK, Project Gizoid. A robot supposedly 4,000 years old that caused the extinction of an entire race; he was given to G.U.N. but man was it a headache. Even that was tolerable according to G.U.N. Project Shadow could be blamed for the downfall of the ARK, since according to them he used the help of aliens to create Shadow." Said John.

"Aliens?" asked the boy.

"You know, beings from another world. I believe in aliens, but I'm sure that it was just a lie to get a hold of the research of Robotnik." Said John.

"Wow…. So that ruckus outside was made by Project Shadow's arrival?" asked the boy.

"Yes. Now that's all I know about Project Shadow and remember, I didn't tell you anything." Said John.

"What're you talking about?" asked the boy with a smirk.

"Good, now since I wasted a good deal of your time bringing you here, the least I can do is give you some of these." Said John as he approached the table with a smile, after checking some of the explosives he finally picked up a bag filled with what appeared to be balls of black clay and a silver Frisbee.

"Don't you think I'm too old to play with clay?" asked the boy as he grabbed the bag warily.

"Ha! You know I'm the only one here that treats you your age." Said John as he hit the boy slightly in the head.

"You speak of me like if I was young when you're just as old as me!" said the boy.

"Hey! I'm one year older than you!" said John between laughs.

"I'm ten years smarter than you." Said the boy while laughing.

"Oh yeah, I'm ten years stronger and taller than you!" said John jokingly as he stood up.

They stood "glaring" at each other for about a minute until they fell on the floor laughing. Between laughs John began to explain what the clay was.

"They're mute explosives, you place the disk 10 meters from the explosive, you set the explosives, press the blue button in the middle of the Frisbee and in 3 seconds, a silent boom!" said John as he finally regained his composure.

"Sweet!" said the boy as he hid the objects beneath his lab coat.

"By the way, if you ever run out of explosives. Press the red button behind the Frisbee and." Said John only to be interrupted by the door opening.

"John, by any chance have you seen…. Oh there you are! Sorry for leaving you behind like that, just wanted to tell you that dinner's ready on the hall." Said Kid's father.

"Wow, it's dinnertime already?" asked Kid.

"You know what they say, time flies when you have fun." Said John.

"Yeah, see you later Lucy!" said Kid mockingly.

"Oh no you didn't." said John.

"Say John, would you care to join us for some dinner?" asked Kid's father.

"Me? In the researcher's wing? I couldn't intrude like that." Said John with surprise.

"Nonsense, be our guest." Said Kid's father.

"Besides, Liz will be there." Said Kid as he nudged John with his elbow.

"Sure! I'll be there." Said John with joy, he was a near perfect copy of an overjoyed puppy. As Kid and his father walked towards their respective rooms they thought they heard John mention something about showing her his bombs.

"So how was your day Kid?" asked Kid's father.

"You're the only father I know that calls his son by his nickname." Said Kid with fake annoyance.

"Does it bug you?" asked Kid's father.

"Not at all Corny." Said Kid with a smirk.

"Now listen here, I had the heart to give you a name which no one could make fun of. Could you at least have the heart to spare your old man some humiliation?" Asked Kid's father with an embarrassed expression.

"Sure, but calling you Corny is easier than Cornelius." Said Kid.

"Look, you know how I like to be called." Said Kid's father with a wide smile.

"Fine Neal." Said Kid with a smirk.

They arrived at the sleeping quarters; each of them entered their respective rooms. Kid didn't have a fancy room, just the essentials. A bed, desk, closet and a chest too; the only decorative object was a huge picture of Liz, Leon, John/Pyro, his father and him. He remembered the day the picture was taken; it started a week right after arriving at the island.

_Flashback. (3 years ago.)_

I was walking through the training camp of the base, though I had never been the physical type kind of guy, people called me a sneaky little bugger. Guess that could be called a physical advantage, but with my dad overwhelmed with his current job I haven't found anyone to speak with. As I was lost in my train of thoughts I felt someone push me to the ground. A moment later there was a loud bang just where I had been standing seconds ago, I expected a harsh voice to punish me for my recklessness but it never came, a softer voice sounded instead.

"Are you alright Kid?" asked the voice.

I opened my eyes to see Caucasian girl with brown hair under a hair mat, she seemed about my age. Though I know never to judge someone by appearance, she was wearing a white apron. Meaning that she was one of the kitchen girls, I was unsure how to react so I simply nodded dumbly.

"Alright Pyro, this time you will have to pay." Said the girl as she faced a boy of similar age.

"Hey! It wasn't my fault that this kid got in the middle of my training grounds!" said the boy with anger.

"You need to be more careful!" yelled the girl angrily.

"No he needs to be more careful." Replied the boy.

"Enough you two love birds." Said another voice.

I turned around to find a research assistant, he seemed a year or two older, give or take. He calmly strolled towards me and offered his hand to stand up. I took it and it was then that I managed to get a good look at him. He kept his brown hair long but at the same time combed sideways, he wore a white research coat and a pair of khaki pants, my guess is that the base didn't have enough funds to give them proper uniforms.

"The name's Leonardo Devilggio, but you can call me Leon." Said Leon with a slight smile as he shook his hand.

"Uuuuuh…." I said.

"Guess you're a little shaken, no matter. The boy over here is Jonathan Luscious, but many refer to him as Pyro for his love for bombs/fire and weapons. The lass that saved your life is Elizabeth, she works in the kitchens but claims that she can become a soldier." Said Leon.

"I will!" said Liz proudly.

"Sure you will, and I will stop playing with bombs." Said John sarcastically.

"I wouldn't bargain with that John, with that determination she just might make it." Said Leon.

"As if! Kid is with me on this one, right?" asked John looking at me.

"Kid?" I asked.

"Sure, that's what Liz called you right?" asked Leon.

I thought about it for a while, normally I would let my anger take the better of me when someone made fun of my lack of height, but for some reason I kind of liked the nickname. Guess that's why they became my best, if not only friends on this island.

"Yes she did, though I will have to side with her on this one." I said, though I wasn't really sure, I wanted payback for the scare he gave me. Maybe at heart I agreed with her because her determination rivaled my own. The reaction was priceless; he stood there with his mouth agape while Liz laughed at him.

"See, even Kid here agrees!" said Liz.

John kneeled dramatically on the ground; he then spoke in a low voice, muttering things I didn't understand; I got closer and asked.

"What did you say?"

From that day on I learned never to let my guard down, he jumped at me and only by sheer luck and instincts did I dodge that attack. He stood up smiling and ran at me again; luckily I was on my senses now so I ran at a nearby tree and swiftly made my way up.

"You may climb monkey boy, but you'll never escape me." Said John as he ran towards the tree, after reaching its base he began to start climbing it, only to fall on his back before the second meter. Earning a laugh from Liz, Leon and myself, oh how much I regretted that laugh seconds later.

"Laugh to this Kid!" yelled John with a mixture of madness and joy as he took out a firework and set it on the ground aimed to the trunk of the tree.

"Are you insane?" yelled Leon who was rapidly running towards him.

"Stop it! You're going to hurt him seriously." Said Liz as she did the same.

"Timber!" yelled John as he lit the rocket.

In that moment I saw the 14 years of my life flash before my eyes. As I saw the fuse getting shorter and shorter, I knew I had to come up with something. I couldn't jump off the tree, my knees would get broken or worse if I hit the ground.

If I hit the ground.

As the rocket went off I jumped towards John much to his surprise, Liz turned around and moved away from John.

Long story short, we both were sent to the infirmary. I had a dislocated shoulder from my rough landing and John had broken arm due to me landing on it. We were carried there by Leon and Liz, all the while they were giving us encouragement in order to withstand the pain. We were told that we would both take a total of 6 months to heal and during that time we would have to use a cast.

As we laid there in bed, drugged by the painkillers I heard John laugh. At first I thought he was simply being delusional but he began speaking.

"So….. hardcore….." said John.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"Dude….. sorry. I kind of overdid it." Said John with a serious face.

I looked at him with a stern face, but I soon broke into a grin and said.

"This is by far, the best thing that has happened to me in this place."

He gave me a thumbs up, to which I replied with a thumbs up of my own.

Rehabilitation was easy, but man was it boring. The only things keeping me sane were my new friends; I got to know them better during that time. I learned that John was sent here by accident. Apparently his parents thought this was a reformatory but it turned out to be a military base, the commander liked his talent with explosives and got him a permanent spot in here.

Liz was another story; she needed the money to help her parents and began working at a low paying food chain. Luck was on her side when one day a researcher took pity on her and recommended her for the kitchen in the island. However since she got here she began to have the ambition of becoming a soldier, she still sends money to her parents.

Leon came from a long family line of intellectuals in Soleanna; he arrived at the island thanks to his parents and he has learned many things here. He hopes to be like his hero Dr. Gerald Robotnik, a doctor who would make the world a better place for everyone. I thought in that moment and I still think that he will succeed.

After 6 long boring months of rehabilitation I was officially healed, thought Leon, John and Liz made them seem much shorter. I was finally allowed to return to my room, but as I entered I found out it was empty except for a note on the desk.

_Your presence is requested at the lead scientist's office._

I was quite nervous, why would he call me? Was he going to tell me that I had to go? That this was no place for kids? Those doubts were washed away however when I arrived at the office and read a sign that said.

_Office of lead scientist Cornelius._

_Please knock._

As I knocked a familiar voice said.

"Come in."

As I opened the door I saw a simple office, a desk and a bookshelf. Behind the desk was my dad who was reading another blueprint. He looked in my direction and before I knew it he hugged me and began to speak in a broken voice.

"I'm sorry! Sorry for ignoring you for half a year! It's just that I had to prove myself to the previous lead scientist and it took all of my time from me, sometimes I would spend several days without sleeping or eating. Though in the end it was worth it, the lead scientist was about to retire and I was his first option. I must admit that I was overwhelmed but I am happier just to see you again son!"

I remained there in silence, not to be offensive or anything but thanks to my 3 new friends I didn't notice my father's absence. This made me feel somewhat guilty but I don't hate him or anything, in fact he's also been one of my friends too. Teaching me everything I know and always supporting me at everything I did.

"I…. don't know what to say. I'm not angry that's for sure, in fact I feel kind of flattered." I said.

"Do you forgive me?" asked Neal.

"Sure! After all you have this sweet office and a promotion." I said with a sly smile.

Neal smiled and finally let go of his son, at that moment the door was pushed opened and three people fell into the room. There was silence from both parties until John broke it.

"So, enjoying this warming father-son moment?" asked John.

"I could ask that to you too." Said Neal.

"You were eavesdropping?" I asked.

"Um, I wouldn't call it eavesdropping. Call it watching out for a friend." Said Liz nervously.

"Doctor Cornelius, I'm terribly sorry for barging in like this!" said Leon in a scared tone of voice.

"Hey relax there, I'm not a monster. I don't have sharp fangs or claws." Said Neal with a smile.

"Um dad, these are my friends; John, Liz and Leon." I said.

"My goodness where are my manners, hello all of you." Said Neal as he greeted them.

We spent talking for a while about the recent events, after a while we began to joke and needless to say, there was a big amount of laughter in that room and it seemed to pierce the eerie atmosphere of the base. At some point of the reunion my father got a camera and took us the picture, a memory I would hang up in the wall to remember forever.

_End of Flashback._

Now the eating hall wasn't that special, although researchers had a higher quality of life the food was the same. The only difference was the space; it seemed less crowded than the soldier eating hall and the chairs seemed more comfortable. After getting their meals Neal and Kid walked over to where Liz and Leon were sitting.

"Kid! How're you doing?" asked Liz.

"Can't complain, aside from the chaos today everything is fine." Said Kid.

Kid sat down at Leon's side and just before his father could sit down one of the scientists quickly approached him and whispered something in his ear.

"Sorry Kid, there's a situation. I'll be back soon, promise." Said Neal before he ran off. At that moment John crept up behind Liz and scared her, he spent some time laughing at her reaction while she blushed in embarrassment.

"Take a joke Liz! Come on, it wasn't that bad!" said John as he continued laughing.

"Not that bad you say? You outright humiliated me!" said Liz.

"You take things too seriously Liz, lighten up a bit." Said John.

"Rgh! You're always so…. So…. So…." Said Liz.

"Handsome? Brave? Heroic? Flamingly attractive? Explosively charismatic?" asked John.

Leon then decided to take charge of the situation by saying.

"Just kiss already! Is all this flirting necessary?"

As if a huge weight had been put upon them, they were silent, barely able to look at each other in the eye. Then Liz gestured Leon to come closer to her, Kid struggled to hear what she said but he only managed to pick up the worlds "package" and "project".

"By any chance did any of you manage to see what arrived?" asked Kid.

"No!" replied Leon suddenly.

"Not a clue! What're you talking about?" asked Liz nervously.

"You know, the chopper descending on the landing pad. Who was there, or what was so important that made all the soldiers assemble there?" asked Kid.

"I don't know, why should I know? Just because I'm the assistant of the lead scientist doesn't mean that I know everything." Said Leon while stuttering, Liz then put her hand on top of his mouth.

"I just want to know how it looks like!" said Kid impatiently.

Liz and Leon remained silent; John on the other hand was silently slipping sauce on Liz's food. Before he could watch his prank in action a siren began to sound.

**Warning, warning! All researchers return to their sleeping quarters immediately, all available soldiers report to Level 6.**

"Sorry Kid, that's my signal to get you out of here." Said John as he grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him to his room. All the while he was struggling against his hold but Leon and Liz were holding him too.

"Alright Leon, you'll stay as a guard. John and me will be going down to Level 6." Said Liz with a determined expression.

"I'm your age for crying out loud, why do I need to hide away?" asked Kid.

"Trust me on this one, we know how you are. It would be better for you if you just stay put." Said John as he opened the door and set him on his bed, before Kid could make a movement to get out of the room John locked the door from the outside.

Kid wasn't angry one bit, on the other hand this was the perfect chance to try his plan, he had only one chance and what better than when all forces are focused on level 6. He opened a drawer in his desk and took out a map; there were several paths and notes scribbled. He grabbed a replica of his father's key card, a small flashlight and a multi tool.

"I guess I'll just take one little peek, and I'll be able to see the other projects!" said Kid to himself with glee.

He climbed the bed and using the multi tool he loosened the screws on the air ducts and finally removed the panel.

"_Phase one underway."_ Thought Kid with glee.

That was one advantage of living on the island; you could scout out all of the areas and in times in which one was bored. He could even figure out how to enter some restricted areas, unfortunately for him levels 4-7 were still unknown to him so he had few clues as to what to expect there. Though the general layout of the base allowed him to enter to level 7 without being detected so that shouldn't prove to be a problem.

The problem now was descending to the first floor of the sleeping quarters; the vents weren't the most silent tunnels ever to be made so progress was slow.

"_According to this map, there should be an intersection between the laundry chute and the air vent to my left." Thought Kid_ as he shone the flashlight to his left, there was a vent and what could be recognized as the start of the laundry chute could be seen. He crawled until he was in front of the vent and proceeded to try and kick it open, at first it didn't budge however after a few kicks it fell through the chute. After realizing that it didn't make a sound he jumped through the chute and landed in a pile of dirty clothes.

He quickly scrambled out of the pile and much to his relief; no one had seen him or heard him yet.

"_Even the laundry employees were sent to their quarters." _Thought Kid with relief. He took another quick look into the map and began sprinting towards the entrance of level 1.

Leon in the meantime was nervously guarding the door, half expecting Kid to barge through it and overpower him.

"_Kid overpower me? Not to brag or anything but I'm stronger than Kid, but he's way faster… and sneaky. Man am I glad that the door opens to the outside, all I have to do is lay back and relax."_ Thought Leon.

"Kid, are you alright?" asked Leon.

No reply.

"Look, we do this because we don't want you to get hurt. Besides, only soldiers are allowed to go, you'll go when the time's right." Said Leon trying to get Kid to talk to him.

"_I suck at making people feel better."_ Thought Leon grimly as he put his back on the door and rested, thinking how to make his friend feel better.

"Hey Kid, how about after all this is over, I take you through a guided tour across levels 4 and 5? You'd like that wouldn't you?" asked Leon.

Still no reply from the room.

"Are you angry with us?" asked Leon with concern. After not getting a reply for a while he sighed and began to speak.

"I can't blame you; if I were in your place I would be angry too. Everyone hiding secrets from me, treating me like a child and constantly taking me to other places so I can't see certain things. It would make me pretty angry." Said Leon, trying to get any sign of life from his friend.

No reply.

"Must want some alone time. Fine buddy, tell me when you've calmed down." Said Leon as he gave up.

**At the entrance of level one.**

Kid had made it quickly to the entrance of level one, no guards and no security cameras on his way. Even the usual grumpy guard was off duty doing whatever the rest were doing. He punched in the code to enter level 1 in the pad besides the door.

"Hope the code wasn't blocked." Thought Kid to himself.

Access Granted.

The doors opened and he took his first steps into level one, he entered a hallway that contained the new recruit's basic weapons. After walking forward for a while he met with a fork in the road, he gave a quick glance to the map and headed right. The road was pretty straight forward from then on and in no time he was in the entrance of level two, this time he had to enter a more complex combination.

Access granted.

The doors opened and he entered level two, in this part the weapons of "high" technology were located, but he wasted no time admiring them, instead he was looking for something else.

"Now according to this map there should be a vent entrance just about here." Whispered Kid to himself as he kept glancing around the room.

"Who's there!" yelled a gruff voice.

"_Damn! Guess they kept some patrols around." Thought Kid_, in that moment he began to search for the vent with a higher urgency.

"What're you talking about Sarge?" asked another voice.

"I heard something, here in level 2." Said the gruff voice.

Kid was desperately inspecting the walls, there was one section that caught his attention and after approaching it he could see the rusted air vent.

"You're probably delusional." Said the other voice.

"Hey! Show some respect! Or do you want to be assigned to toilet cleaning duty?" asked the gruff voice.

"Alright Sarge, I'll go check." Said the other voice in an annoyed voice.

"_Damn! I can't take this apart in time with the multitool!"_ thought Kid; he quickly searched between his pockets. He soon felt the balls inside his coat; he then took 4 balls and put them in the screws. He pressed the Frisbee and left it there, after getting a safe distance away he heard the panel fall.

"Now I did hear something!" said the other voice.

"See? I wasn't insane." Said the gruff voice, after that statement footsteps began to approach at a quick pace.

Kid ran quickly to the vent, grabbing the Frisbee and inside he quickly picked up the panel and held it in place. Not a second too soon for just when he set the panel back he heard the footsteps stop, he heard some mumbling between the soldiers he couldn't quite identify and then they began walking through the hallway.

He began quickly crawling through the vent; using the flashlight he began to follow the direction on the vent. During many moments he lost track of time, there were man turns and ramps through the way and in some moments he nearly lost his sense of direction and gave up.

**With Leon.**

"Yo buddy, still alive?" asked Leon, earning no reply from the door.

"_That's it! I respect his privacy but this is just pushing it!" thought Leon _as he turned around to open the door only to find out that it was locked.

"Locked? He never locks it." Thought Leon nervously as he began to search around his pockets, from one of them he extracted a card. He quickly slid it in a small opening in the door, hoping to somehow open it. He was greatly relieved when he heard a click and the door opened, but that relief was short lived as he saw the empty room and the air vent panel on the floor. He quickly put two and two together and figured out where he was going.

"_Of course, all the questions at dinner. He's going to level 8_!" thought Leon with fear.

"Damn it!" yelled Leon as he ran out of the room and sprinted across the stairs.

"_Where is he? How far has he gone yet? Damn it! Hope I'm not too late!"_ thought Leon.

He took several twist and turns but instead of heading towards the exit of the sleeping quarters, he went to a janitor closet. Once inside he lifted a bucket of paint, making a panel appear at the wall, he took out what appeared to be a disk from his pocket and inserted it into a slot hidden behind the bucket.

**Execute Level 8? Y/N**

"Of course I want to! Why else would I put the CD inside!" said Leon angrily as he pressed the y key.

**Type password.**

Leon began typing a long string of complex coding, it took him a good minute to get it all typed down.

**Overdrive command accepted, ETA to level 8. 30 minutes.**

The room then shifted and it seemed to move, slowly but surely he was making his way down.

"_Now I can only pray that he hasn't reached level 8 yet."_ Thought Leon.

In level six the chaos had finally subsided, in the middle of a room stood ten soldiers restraining what appeared to be a mutant of some sort, though if someone had seen them before they would've recognized him as a black arm. Surrounding them were 10 other injured soldiers, though by looking at them people would call them dead.

"Containment successful sir! Awaiting orders!" said one of the soldiers.

"At ease; lock this….. thing in Level 7. The Ultimate Life Form needs some company." Said a captain.

Among those ten soldiers were John and Liz, it had been a real pain containing the alien without killing it. As they were walking the black arm into the large room known as level 7 John checked his watch and frowned deeply, Liz noticed this and asked.

"Something the matter?"

John looked up and resumed his smile and replied.

"Not at all, just a small problem."

"Mind telling me about it?" asked Liz.

"You'll find out soon enough." Replied John.

On an air duct Kid had witnessed the battle between the soldiers and the alien, he was surprised that even though they sent a barrage of bullets his way, he seemed to shrug them off and heal in seconds. All the while he was silently cheering for his friends and he couldn't help but clap lightly when they managed to tie him up with a cable.

"_Now let's see, this is the final stretch until level 7."_ Thought Kid with glee.

He crawled forward, after some time he saw a light at the end of the tunnel, he began picking up speed, not caring if anyone heard him at all. He was so close to arriving to a place he wanted to see since his arrival to the base.

Too bad there was a pitfall.

"This wasn't in the blueprints!" yelled Kid as he fell through the vent, he landed roughly and was sent flying right into the room; breaking the panel while doing so. He slowly and painfully stood up only to find out that there was no source of light, he grabbed his flashlight that was on the ground and turned it on; he then looked around the room only to find capsules everywhere, all lined up to perfection. He approached one of them, but what he thought was a man, was anything but it, he didn't have any skin, which left his mechanical body completely exposed.

"An…. Android?" whispered Kid.

He looked down to see a small screen that read.

**Project A**

**Status: Dormant.**

"_So this is where the so called Project Z is located."_ Thought Kid.

He continued walking through the hall, looking at the various projects. Some were disgusting while others were breathtaking, but as he was advancing he noticed that the mechanical parts were starting to decrease in number as he approached the end of the alphabet. When he reached the end he stood face to face to a capsule that contained something that he had never seen before.

"_What's that…. Thing? It looks familiar but I can't put my finger on it!" _Thought Kid as he looked at the creature.

He instinctively walked towards the glass but he accidentally tripped, unfortunately the thing that stopped his fall was a lever. The capsule began to open and a sudden rush of cold air filled the room, Kid looked with dismay at what he had done and immediately began to back up. He took a quick glance at the capsule only to find 4 words that made him nearly lose his composure.

**Project Y**

**Status: Active.**

"_Will it be dangerous? What if being so close to Z means it's a cold blooded killer?"_ thought Kid along with a series of depressing thoughts.

As the capsule door opened completely footsteps could be heard coming from the capsule, Kid was shaking beyond control now and he couldn't keep the flashlight pointed in one direction. The footsteps took him out of his trance and he started running away, he didn't care anymore for the so called Ultimate Life Form or any secret of the base. All he wanted was to get away from Project Y.

As he was approaching the vent he heard the footsteps pick up speed behind him, he began to run faster but he was still a good distance away from the vent. The footsteps were beginning to sound closer than before and he used the capsules to see how far away he was from the exit.

" H…. G…. F…. E…" said Kid to himself, but his breath was cut short when he felt a pair of arms wrap around his shoulders tightly, sealing him in a bear hug.

"_I'm going to be killed any second now." _Thought Kid with fear as he closed his eyes.

"Why! We just told you to stay in your room, an easy order to follow but no! You had to go ahead and get yourself into the most secretive area of this base!" yelled Leon as he held him in place.

"Leon! It's so good to see you." Said Kid as he escaped Leon's grip.

"I only noticed something because, wait a minute. You're happy to see me?" asked Leon not believing what he was hearing.

"Yes! I thought for second you were someone else." Said Kid.

"Wait, someone else?" asked Leon with fear as he tried to look around the dark room, he grabbed a control from his pocket and hit a button which made the lights in the room turn on. He turned around only to see a green hedgehog looking at them with a curious expression.

"Please don't kill me!" yelled Kid instinctively.

"Now there….. um we're friends right?" asked Leon scared.

The hedgehog only cocked her head to a side as she kept on staring at them.

"Keep your distance, we have no idea what it may do." Said Leon in a low voice.

"But I thought you were the one that made them." Said Kid with a confused expression.

The hedgehog began to approach them warily but Leon gave a sudden step forward, causing the hedgehog to jump back in fear.

"She looks harmless enough." Said Kid, still being somewhat wary.

"She?" asked Leon in disbelief.

"Um well, she has certain…. Characteristics that only girls have." Said Kid while turning red.

"Oh…. Now I get it; but what's with you calling it…."

"Her." Cut off Kid.

"Her harmless if you were begging her not to kill you only seconds ago?" asked Leon.

"That was before seeing her all scared just by hearing you walk." Said Kid in a matter of factly manner.

Kid started to slowly walk towards the hedgehog, her blue eyes were focused on him while he was approaching her; he extended his hand towards the hedgehog.

"Bad idea." Whispered Leon.

The hedgehog slowly extended her hand and put it on Kid's hand; he then shook it slowly and said.

"Hi."

The hedgehog smiled and kept on shaking his hand, hard. Kid's hand was starting to feel the effects of being crushed under a death grip.

"Owowowowow, please let go, please let go, please let go." Said Kid quickly while his face showed pain.

The hedgehog understood and pulled her hand away, her face expressing shame.

"I'm sorry." Whispered the hedgehog.

Kid flinched at the sound of her voice while Leon still kept his ground, not shaken at all by the fact that she just talked.

"D-d-d-do you have a name?" asked Kid nervously.

"Name?" asked the hedgehog shyly.

"The projects have no name Kid, actually they're only called by their letters. Now let's get her back in the capsule before people find out we were here." Said Leon while he was looking around.

At the mention of the capsule the hedgehog began to back away a few steps from Kid, he walked a few steps towards her and tried to calm her down.

"_Now I remember…. She's a Mobian." Thought Kid. _

Sure, Mobians were not a rare sight, but if you spent the majority of your life confined indoors and in an island with only human soldiers, seeing a Mobian was a shock.

"C-c-c-calm down, he didn't mean it." Said Kid.

"No…. capsule…" said the hedgehog as she slowly backed away.

"So you're experimenting with living creatures?" asked Kid with a slight hint of anger in his voice.

"No! It's nothing like that! She was conceived through science, she's the first living being to be produced through science." Said Leon.

"The second." Said Kid, earning a silence from Leon's side. He then turned around to look at the hedgehog and pointed to himself and said.

"Friend."

The hedgehog then began to walk closer and repeated.

"Friend?"

"Yes." Said Kid as he also pointed to Leon and then to him. She then ran towards him and did something that neither Leon nor Kid expected.

She hugged Kid.

As if the fact that she was naked didn't make it embarrassing enough, Kid didn't remember the last time he was hugged by a girl. Living in the island made him forget how a hug from a girl felt like, even if it came from an experiment he felt really uncomfortable and comfortable at the same time.

"Uh…. Urk…. Uhm…" said Kid as he was blushing furiously; Leon couldn't help but chuckle.

"It seems you got yourself an admirer." Said Leon between laughs.

"Sh-sh-shut up!" stammered Kid, after what seemed like a while she pulled back and said while smiling.

"Friend."

"Sure, now we need a name to call you." Said Kid.

"Kid… don't get too attached." Said Leon.

"Oh come on! What's the worst that could happen?" asked Kid.

"Gee I don't know, perhaps she's just pretending to be nice and when you least expect it she'll eat you! She came out of a capsule! She is a project! She is bad!" yelled Leon exasperated.

"Bad is hiding secrets from your friends Leon; bad is experimenting with a conscious being. There are many bad things but she isn't one of them." Said Kid with a serious expression, making Leon flinch.

The hedgehog was holding a book that was beside the capsule of project V, she opened and began scanning the pages while the two friends kept on ranting.

"Why do you judge based on appearance?" asked Kid.

"You did the same thing, running away from her!" replied Leon.

"Yeah I did that, only as a precaution. Look at her, she wouldn't hurt a fly." Said Kid gesturing towards Y who was reading the book with interest, this caught Kid's attention and he approached her. When he was in front of her she gestured towards the book and said.

"Flora."

"Excuse me?" asked Kid, he crouched to see the cover of the book.

_Flora at work._

_Find out how to make your workspace look alive with this book!_

"That's it! Your name will be Flora." Said Kid.

"Flora?" asked Y.

"Yes, you are now Flora." Said Kid as he pointed to her.

"Flora?" asked Flora as she pointed to herself.

"Yes!" said Kid as he nodded.

"Flora! Flora friend Kid!" said Flora as she began jumping in joy. Even though the statement sounded crude and barbaric, Kid couldn't help but feel touched by it. He felt a hand in his shoulder and turned around to look at Leon who had an expression not of anger, but of sadness.

"I-i-I'm sorry, but we need to get her back to the capsule." Said Leon with sadness in his voice.

"No! Leon why, come on!" said Kid.

"She isn't a soldier, and she certainly isn't the brightest mind out there!" said Leon.

"Leon…. Friend?" asked Flora innocently.

Leon looked at her in the eyes and was about to reply when he found himself without any words.

"I…. ah…. I…" began to say Leon.

Suddenly an explosion was heard on the wall, the trio turned around to see that the wall was falling over. On the other side were 10 soldiers knocked unconscious or dead and the alien Kid saw with a capsule that contained what he could only assume was Project Shadow.

"Resistance is futile, surrender the projects at once.." Said the black arm as he approached them. Kid turned around to see Flora cowering behind capsule V and Leon running to the elevator.

"Leon, we need to help her!" yelled Kid.

Leon turned around quickly, but he kept on running towards the open elevator. On the way he stopped by a panel, he inserted a key inside and unlocked a big red button, he then pressed it.

**Lockdown activated.**

"Run Kid!" yelled Leon as he resumed his run towards the elevator.

The panel that the black arm broke rose and in its place a barrier of electricity appeared, the capsules from A-X began entering the ground.

"You have sealed your fate, you and your pathetic planet will pay the price." Said the black arm as he began to walk towards Flora.

"At least I have a runner up price; I need some food for the return home." said the black arm as he kept on walking towards Flora, he was surprised when Kid stood in front of him, "protecting" Flora.

"No! You can still escape Kid, come on!" yelled Leon from the elevator as the door closed.

"There's the easy way, and the hard way. I've never been the easy kind of guy." Said Kid with a smirk.

"Ha! You're trying to protect this pathetic creature? How amusing; 10 of your finest warriors couldn't contain me and you want to take me alone?" asked the black arm.

"First of all, she's a friend. Second, yeah that's exactly my plan." Said Kid.

"Such misplaced courage, you have the potential to become a fine warrior; How about I make you a deal?" asked the black arm.

"Why would I make a deal with someone like you?" asked Kid.

"If you come with me, I'll train you. This honor is normally reserved for the black arms only but I like your guts. You'll fight alongside the fiercest warriors in the universe!" said the black arm.

"And I suppose you want me to betray my friends and my entire race?" asked Kid.

"Now you're seeing things my way, it's either that or your death." Said the black arm.

"_I could accept…. Being a soldier, the fiercest of the universe; would I give up my friends just for that?"_ thought Kid to himself.

"I've a better idea, how about I stop you right here, right now?" asked Kid, the black arm began to laugh in a high pitched tone.

"You? Stop me? That's something I would like to see, the dwarf trying to overpower the giant." Said the black arm.

On the side of the electric fence one soldier began to stir, one of his arms was filled with deep claw marks. He slowly began to stand up using his good arm but what he saw nearly made him fall over again.

"No! Kid get the hell out of there!" yelled John, he tried running towards the gate, but stopped just in time to see the voltage coursing through it.

"Kid? Very well warrior Kid from earth, face me in battle." Said the black arm as he raised his claws.

"No…. friend…. Stop please." Said Flora .

"With pleasure." Said Kid as he took a defensive stance, not even a second had passed before he saw the claw nearly rip his face off. He barely managed to dodge it and land a hit that didn't seem to affect the black arm. He quickly jumped back to open the gap between them only to see the black arm smile.

"_Weird, I didn't notice the mouth before."_ Thought Kid.

"You're fast, but your strength is no match for me." Said the black arm.

"You should never judge anyone by appearance; I have some tricks up my sleeve." Replied Kid.

"Thank you for warning me genius." Replied the black arm as he ran towards Kid.

"Wow, the alien can use sarcasm." Said Kid as he ran towards the black arm.

The black arm ran against kid with his right arm raised, ready to strike while kid raised his fist in the same manner.

"_If you can't win using your strength." Thought Kid_ as he used the other hand to grab a small plastic bag from his pocket.

"Win using your head!" said Kid as he slid under the black arm, the alien didn't expect that and couldn't stop in time before crashing against the wall, he left a huge hole in it and his head was stuck. Kid wasted no time; he grabbed all of the balls in the bag and put them in the black arm's back. He pressed the blue button on the Frisbee and ran away from the struggling alien.

"You've just been, blown away." Said Kid while snickering to himself.

The explosion wasn't heard, but it left terrible burn marks in the black arm's back. There was even a small part of his vertebral column exposed but other than that he looked just the same, he even bared the same smile as before.

"This is the most fun I've had on this puny planet." Said the black arm as he charged towards Kid again.

John was trying to wake up some of the other soldiers, some of them woke up but others remained still but from their injuries John could only think the worst.

"_So, the alien had managed to take us all out with ease and that now someone that isn't a soldier is standing his own against it. Wow, whoever failed Kid in the soldier entry exam will have some explaining to do."_ Thought John as he felt the tiniest bit of pride, one of the soldiers walked his way and said.

"We're trying to crack the system as fast as we can, but the only one with experience here is Jim and even he is having a tough time trying to crack the code." Said the soldier.

"Then hurry! If Kid dies you will have to answer to his dad, Liz, Leon and me." Said John while glaring.

"Sir yes sir!" said the soldier as he ran towards a soldier to yell some words of "encouragement."

The battle followed a simple pattern, the black arm would charge again only for Kid to get behind him and deliver a kick on the exposed part of his spinal cord. Each time the black arm attacked at a faster pace and with fiercer determination.

"I've never had this much fun in ages, if I didn't have to kill you I would like to battle again." Said the black arm.

"Maybe in the next life." Said Kid as he ran around the black arm, trying to make him dizzy again.

"It might come sooner than expected for you." Said the black arm as he grabbed Kid's head with his claw.

"Kid!" yelled John from the other side of the fence.

"Friend! No!" yelled Flora.

The black arm then impaled Kid's chest with his claw, he gasped quickly at the pain. When the black arm retreated his claw, blood began to flow out in big amounts.

"Die knowing that you'll be one fight that I'll boast about." Said the black arm while smiling.

Kid was still moving, and with his arm he slowly reached into his pocket and grabbed the Frisbee. He slowly turned it around and pressed the red button behind it. His face no longer showed pain but instead bared a smirk.

"See… you in the next life….." said Kid as he threw the Frisbee in the black arm's direction before collapsing.

The Frisbee landed under the black arm and exploded, it created a ball of fire that surrounded the black arm in all directions. Terrible wails were heard from within the explosion just as the electric fence finally came down.

"_Funny, never thought this would be my grave." Thought Kid._

On top of him he saw a pair of blue eyes, tears streaming down. Kid tried to raise his hand but

"Kid…. No…. Don't die… Please." Said Flora.

"Sorry…. Friend." Said Kid as he finally closed his eyes.

**Station Square High 0600 hours, Present time.**

At this time, only the ones who woke up really early were at school. They had a saying that the only ones, who arrived before six, were the bookworms and the ones who didn't leave at all. This was exactly what happened to Zack, a 19 year old human male with brown hair hidden under a hat and equally colored eyes. He was wearing a shirt painted white on one side and black on the other one; he had black jeans and his shoes were just a regular pair of running shoes.

He was sleeping blissfully in the cafeteria, until one of the workers noticed him and decided that she didn't want him slacking off in there.

"Zack. Open your eyes now!" yelled a harsh female voice.

Zack began to wake up slowly, when he opened his eyes he saw the cafeteria completely empty and all the lights were off. He looked at the source of the voice to see the cafeteria lady; she seemed a little on the fat side but not so far in it.

"Good morning lady." Said Zack with a smile.

"Don't you lady me! Your classes start in an hour and I need to get this place up and running." Said the lady.

"What?" yelled Zack, he quickly checked his pockets and grabbed his phone, only to see something worse than finding out you slept in school.

_100+ missed calls._

"_Well… I'm pretty much fucked."_ Thought Zack with despair, he quickly scanned through the numbers.

**Dad: 17**

**Mom: 10**

**Linda: 25**

**Greg: 5**

**Jake: 8**

**Gina: 3**

**Unknown number: 189**

"Holy smokes! 189 missed calls from just one number?" asked Zack out loud.

"I don't care how many calls you receive Mr. Popular, get out of here!" yelled the lady as she threw a broom at Zack.

"Alright, I'm moving, I'm moving." Said Zack as he ran out of the cafeteria, as he entered the hallway he noticed the so called "bookworms" were already in their lockers. As he began to make his way towards his locker in Station Square High he began thinking about the dream.

"_I knew I had sleeping problems, but sleeping at lunch and waking up at morning is just pushing it. Why do I keep having them anyway? I've never heard anything about Prison Island or that space station for that matter. Who is this Kid I keep seeing? Did I forget to take my pills?"_ thought Zack.

"Ugh, what am I thinking? It's just a dream, it probably doesn't mean anything important." Said Zack a bit too loud, catching the attention of several of the bookworms. He gave them a quick look and began to walk at a faster pace towards his locker. As he arrived he noticed a familiar figure leaning against the neighboring locker.

"Morning Zack." Said Gina.

"Morning Gina." Replied Zack without any emotion.

Gina was what most people considered a low profile girl, though in her case it was an understatement. You could be sitting in the same table and sometimes you would forget she was even there. Though sometimes her shyness and silence can make her nearly invisible, if anyone took the time to talk to her they would find a great friend. With blond hair and red eyes she makes for the most unusual sight in the whole school.

"Slept again?" asked Gina.

"Yes." Replied Zack.

"Should've known dream boy." Said Gina.

"Dream boy? Is that the best you could come up with?" asked Zack with a smirk.

"Hey, I'm not the one having weird dreams!" replied Gina as she punched Zack playfully on the shoulder.

She was one of the few people who know about them, it was actually kind of funny how they met. Long story short, they were practicing karate against each other and Gina utterly destroyed Zack in strength. Ridiculed by many he decided to stay on the floor, but he saw a hand extended towards him. He grabbed it and as he pulled himself up he saw her giving the most menacing glare he had ever seen to the laughing crowd. He invited her to hang out, and the rest is history.

"Is Linda pissed?" asked Zack.

"Big time, but you know how she rolls." Said Gina with a smirk.

"I know, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it." Said Zack.

"Speak of the devil, good luck Zack. I'll be rooting for you." Said Gina as she walked away quickly.

"Zack!" yelled an angry female voice.

**Author's note: By now you may be wondering, what did I just read? I want to see Sonic, Shadow, Silver or anyone for that matter.**

**Wait, that's all I can say to you. Next chapter we'll see some characters from the Sonic Franchise.**

**They will make an appearance that is a fact. Some characters will appear in many chapters while others will just appear for that chapter. For those who didn't notice, this starts before Sonic Adventure due to the fact that the city isn't devastated by Chaos yet.**

**Consider this a rough draft, or a draft. Review me with all you got, be it good or bad I'm ready to hear it. Also if you have any questions ask away.**

**PD: Next chapter is in Zack's POV.**

**PDD: The name Kid comes from which franchise? What's his real name in his respective franchise?**

**PDDD: Sure, there's death. But nothing graphic and extremely bloody and gory, so reporting is futile.**


	2. Up and down and all around

**Short note: This takes place a little before the events of Sonic Adventure.**

**Disclaimer still applies.**

**Thanks to CarterLiveForever for his review and to those who have viewed the story.**

"**And here you are to drag me off in a magical carriage…. To hell I suppose." Larry Foulke.**

Chapter 2

Zack's POV.

Crap, I honestly didn't want to deal with this at this hour. Me and my sleeping issues, well better man up and face your angriness herself. I turned around and tried to compliment myself out of this one, luckily she wasn't an intimidating sight, especially with a pink shirt that had the symbol of peace and love engraved on it, and she also decided to wear sport pants today and casual shoes.

Oh and she was a fox, did I mention that? A brown fox with long hair and yellow eyes, those eyes….. very entrancing, not in a romantic way.

"Hi Linda, looking good today." I said.

It wasn't a lie to say the least, I could see that she had put a little more effort in arranging her fur, at the sound of the compliment her frown disappeared and she began speaking in a happy voice.

"Oh why thank you, in fact I woke up early to…. Wait a second, you're not doing this again!" said Linda with a glare.

"Doing what exactly?" I asked, feigning innocence.

"This! You always change the topic of conversation, but not this time mister. You left us to die at the arcade yesterday!" said Linda loudly, earning several looks and snickers from the bystanders.

"Look, you know about my issues." I whispered.

"Ha! Zacky is on his period." Yelled a too familiar and non-loved voice.

Ah James, the pinnacle of human stupidity; Now I normally don't judge until I give people a chance and even when I do, the words I use are "stupid, lazy, arrogant." Among others, oh but he; Ever since I met him he has dedicated his existence to make my life as miserable as possible, but as I mentioned before he is a good for nothing so even at that he fails. He constantly dyes his hair in different colors, one day he might be a red head and another day he turns out to be a blond; Typical muscular high school jock with no brains.

"Shut up James, this is none of your business!" yelled Linda, clearly unleashing her anger on James rather than on me.

Poor James, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

"Well then I'll make it my business fox girl! Now let your boyfriend defend himself fur bag unless you want me to hang you in my wall!" replied James with a smug smirk.

It wasn't strange seeing James making racist remarks about Mobians, the only reason he's still in this school is that his father is chief of the police. If anyone else spoke like that about a Mobian or a human he or she was expelled.

"I can defend myself if I want meat bag." I said.

But let me make something clear, you mess with the wolf. You get the fangs; mess with the pack, I kick your ass.

"Ha! Says the one who can get beaten by nearly anyone in the school!" said James as he cracked his knuckles.

He did have a point there; I'm the weakest person from the hip up. Anyone could beat me if they got a hold of me.

If, they got a hold of me.

"You know what they say, if you can't win using your strength." I said as I laid the satchel on the floor, several Mobians and humans began to get interested in the boiling fight.

"Stop it Zack, I still need to talk to you!" said Linda.

"Win using your head." I finished saying.

"Ha! Bring it on punk." Said James as he took a defensive stance, the crowd had surrounded us now and some of the students began cheering. That was until my plan went into action.

***Ring.***

"Crap, if I arrive late one more time I'll be kicked out for real! We'll finish this later fox lover." Said James as he took off to his class.

Hehehehe, the old trick of changing your ringtone to the school bell sound; works to get out of class early and to avoid unnecessary fights. I tried to hide myself between the crowd only to be grabbed by Linda and pulled back into a nearly abandoned corridor.

"So… I won't get away that easy?" I asked.

"Maybe…. Just maybe." Said Linda with a smirk.

"Please?" I asked, trying my best to impersonate a puppy.

"Oh what the heck! I forgive you and your sleepiness, but leave us again and you won't come off so easy." Said Linda as she grabbed my head and hit me slightly 3 times.

"Ouch?" I asked, pretending to be hurt.

"Just to make sure you were really awake." Said Linda, finally smiling again.

Now before you start getting any ideas, I don't love her. I just view her as a sister and she does likewise; today we had our first class together, art.

I suck at art.

All the while she kept talking about what she had to do yesterday, but she no longer seemed angry much to my relief. However, when she mentioned calling me I remembered the unknown number, who was so desperate to get a hold of me that he or she called me over 100 times?

"Hey dream boy, don't sleep on me now. We're here." Said Linda as we entered the classroom.

The first thing that struck me as odd was that the seat usually occupied by Mr. Marrow was empty, and in front of the blackboard was a pink hedgehog who seemed younger than me.

"Who's she?" asked Linda in a low voice.

"Probably a substitute." Said Zack as he took his typical seat.

The classroom gradually began to fill up with students, when the bell rang the teacher zoomed lightning fast towards the door and closed it in front of a tardy student's face. While she ignored the knocking and begging of the student she began to write her name on the board.

**Amy Rose.**

"Hello there, as you have noticed Mr. Marrow is not here. So I'll be your substitute teacher while he recovers from his terrible accident." Said Amy with a smile, her smile only widened when a student raised his hand.

"Yes Mr…" began to say Amy.

"Nick." Said the student.

"Yes Mr. Nick?" asked Amy.

"Aren't you too young to be a substitute teacher?" asked Nick.

"Age doesn't matter when you have experience." Said Amy, her smile still standing. "Any more questions?" She asked as she looked around the classroom, seeing as no one raised their hands she began pacing slowly.

"Sounds pretty fishy to me if you ask." Whispered Linda to me.

"Well, today I'll go easy on you since it's my first day. So you will all have to draw a picture of Sonic the Hedgehog, whoever draws the best one gets to skip class for two weeks." Said Amy with a smile that was really starting to creep me out, the majority of the class quickly took out their materials and began drawing. I on the other hand decided to simply sit without doing anything in particular; however I found myself facing the always smiling face of Amy Rose.

"Why aren't you drawing?" she asked.

"Art and I are not in good terms miss." I replied.

"You could at least try." She said, her smile still holding up.

"Can you draw?" I asked, her smile fell from a second just before returning.

"S-s-s-sure! I am a certified substitute teacher after all, why wouldn't I know?" asked Amy while stuttering slightly.

"I don't believe you." I said, messing with the new teachers is and will always be my favorite pastime, though after a while we ended up being on neutral terms but the beginning was always the best.

"I don't need you to." Replied Amy, suddenly some distracted students began finding the wall very interesting and started looking at it. Guess they're now used to this small tradition of mine, but being used to something didn't mean not finding it amusing.

"Sure, I bet you aren't even a real teacher." I said to Amy.

"How much are you willing to lose kid?" asked Amy, if looks could kill I think I would be dead. Long was the gentle smile and in its place was a grin I knew too well, mainly because only I use it.

A grin filled with confidence.

"You have to draw Sonic, if you fail to do so in a good way, I get to skip the activity." I said as I stood up from my chair.

"And what if I win?" asked Amy.

"Surprise me." I said as I sat down again.

"Fine." Said Amy as she walked to the front desk and opened the drawer, from it she took 2 different pencils and began scribbling at a high speed in the paper. I had started to regret making this bet, sure now I know she was either a really naïve substitute teacher or that she wasn't a teacher at all. My thoughts were interrupted when she arrived in front of me holding a perfect drawing of Sonic the Hedgehog made entirely by pencil.

"How about this?" asked Amy with her same smile from before. I turned to look at Linda only to find her shooting daggers with her eyes at me, figuratively speaking of course.

"Fine, what do you want me to do?" I asked, looking at the floor in defeat.

"Hm….. what to do….. I'll tell you after class Mr…." said Amy, clearly trying to remember if I ever told her my name.

"Zack." I said.

"Zack, meet me at 2pm outside the school." Said Amy with her smile still intact.

Creepy if you ask me.

"Fine, a deal is a deal." I said, trying to be a good sport.

***Ring***

"No homework for you class, enjoy your day." Said Amy as she left the classroom rather quickly. I felt myself being dragged by the ear by Linda.

"Ouch,ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch." I said in a low voice as I struggled to set myself free. Many people found this amusing and started to chuckle among themselves, though I don't blame them. After all it's not every day you see a Mobian girl dragging a human boy through the school hallway. She finally let me go when we arrived at our next class; History.

Finally something I knew about.

"You're a magnet for trouble, one of these days this might get you killed." Said Linda in a serious tone.

"Yes mom." I replied.

"I'm serious Zack; I don't want to be at the hospital waiting for you to come out of a coma due to your recklessness." Said Linda as she grabbed my hand.

"Aw, Zack is getting soft with Linda again." Said a newcomer.

"Don't mind him; Jake's just jealous that Gina still hasn't fallen for him." Said Linda, causing Jake to glow in a bright shade of red, as the room began to fill he noticed that James was sitting in the middle, speaking rather enthusiastically to two girls. He quieted down rather quickly when the teacher entered the room, apparently he was a captain from an old military base none of us knew about and he never mentioned it, but he always wore his insignias with pride. He looked like he was 20 years old when in reality he was older, talk about stopping the flow of time.

"Welcome back runts, for those of you knuckleheads who forgot about me, I'm Captain Ashley. Now, did anyone read pages 259-300?" asked Ashley in a surprisingly soft tone.

I would've read it, if I hadn't overslept, luckily for me Jake seemed to have read as he raised his hand.

"Mind to explain us?" asked Ashley.

"I don't mind, those pages covered the last century. During that age many great inventors created the everyday technology we use today, the United Federation struggled to make peace with all the countries in the world and we had the biggest tidal wave in recorded history." Said Jake.

Wow, talk about vague. Apparently Ashley thought the same as me and shook his head in disapproval.

"So that's how you summarize 41 pages of information? In my days, people like you used to peel potatoes!" said Ashley in a harsh tone, causing Jake to flinch slightly. Ashley then paced in the front of the room.

"Who managed to calm down the crowd during the Westopolis revolution?" asked Ashley.

"Your mom; she's good with those!" yelled James, earning a loud laughter from the room.

"Quiet! James, you'll stay after class to peel all the potatoes in the cafeteria and for your information my mother was good with crowds, she was an actress!" yelled Ashley, earning more chuckles from the classroom.

"Does anyone know the greatest breakthrough of the last century?" asked Ashley to the classroom, half angry and half begging.

"That would be the space colony ARK, wouldn't it?" I said.

There, I said it. It was a complete accident but many people found it amusing and began laughing out loud.

"Space colony? That's rich!" said James as he laughed harder than the rest.

However Ashley wasn't laughing, he wasn't angry either, he looked like if he had seen a ghost and stared at me as if I just grew a second head. Me and my dreams, I'm taking extra pills today; as the laughter died down Ashley remained in silence, scaring the majority of the class.

"Dude, why did you say that? You just gave old Ashley a heart attack." Said Jake nervously.

"I did not!" I replied.

"What's with your space colony? There's no such thing as a space colony." Said Linda with a smirk.

"Uhm…. Right, there is no such thing Mr. Zack." Said Ashley nervously.

"Right…. Hypothetically speaking, if there was a space colony and something big was being developed there and the military found out, do you think they would keep it hidden from the world?" I asked.

Dammit! Why am I still speaking, I feel as if this words are not my own!

"I don't think so, why would they do something like that?" asked Ashley as he began sweating.

"To make sure a certain shadow doesn't stain their permanent record perhaps." I said.

Dammit! Why can't I keep my mouth shut, now Ashley looked like he was about to faint. In fact I think he nearly did because he had to hold on to the desk to prevent himself from collapsing on the floor.

"C-c-c-class dismissed." Said Ashley as he left the classroom quickly. Some whispers began to spread among the classroom but they were broken when someone began clapping, I turned around and saw James clapping with a smile on his face.

"Not bad, you broke him before me, you may have become somewhat acceptable in my book, but we still have a fight pending." Said James with a smirk, I wasn't paying attention to him. I had already stood up and exited the classroom along with Linda and Jake.

"You're really delirious Zack, you should call in sick." Said Linda.

"I…. no. It was just a small slip of tongue; it isn't as if I'm blacking out or anything. Besides, it's lunch time, gym and math for today, at least for me." I said quickly.

In our school you chose your class hours, you could put them at nearly any time you want but a certain number of classes had to be completed in order to pass the course.

"Well, what do we do during this extra time we have?" asked Jake.

"Oh! I need to show you something!" said Linda as she began looking for something in her pocket.

Heh, silly Linda. Always working on something new; just like in the day we met. I think I was six at the time; we had just moved into the outskirts of Station Square and I finally had some alone time. However as I was walking across the quiet neighborhood I saw a small fox tinkering with a small box. It seemed like a jack in the box and being a curious young boy I walked over to ask her what was it. She flinched and a fist came out of the box and knocked me out cold; nice machine if you ask me.

After a while I woke up with her apologizing like mad, I started laughing at her. Causing her to worry even worse, I still remember her ranting about how she made me crazy and that now I was scarred for life. I told her it was nothing and we began hanging out more, I was the "lab rat" in the majority of her experiments. She's one smart fox and frankly I'm amazed no university has already sent her a letter or anything like that.

"Wow! You made it all by yourself?" asked Jake in a surprised tone.

"Well…. Yes I did, it's no big deal." Said Linda in a low voice.

"Excuse me what?" I asked, only to receive a punch in the back of my head coming from Linda.

"Weren't you paying attention knucklehead?" asked Linda in a loud voice as I grabbed my head in pain.

"No, that's why I asked." I replied.

"Fine, look." Said Linda as she extended her arm and held her palm open, in the middle of her palm she had a small metal square attached, out of the middle several small "arms" began to rise and began surrounding her arm; They stopped only until her arm was completely mechanic, she then punched the locker, leaving a clean hole in it. To say the least she left me impressed and if my jaw wasn't attached to my head it would probably be rolling on the floor right now.

"I call it, the S-498 Prototype B." said Linda with pride.

"Wow….. that's some serious power." I said.

"Aren't we going to get in trouble for damaging school property?" asked Jake as he looked around nervously.

"Um…." Began to say Linda.

"Run." I said as I started making my way to the lunchroom, Linda and Jake followed me quickly.

The rest of the day went off as any normal day would, we had lunch. Gina and Jake kept stealing glances from one another, Linda and I were discussing on getting a better name for the S-498 whatever, I suggested Sucker Punch….. Bitch, but she kept saying that it was way too vulgar.

Either way it's Sucker Punch…. Bitch, for me.

The only weird thing in the day was that my parents haven't messaged me at all, sure I kind of forgot to call them but normally I would receive a message from my mom saying to stop worrying them. At that moment however Linda commented on my small bet in art class and caught Gina's attention.

"Aw…. Zack is going out with Amy Rose, isn't it aworable." Said Gina while puckering her lips.

"W-w-w-what? N-n-n-no!" I replied, though I'm sure my face was redder than a tomato by now.

"She's not going on a date with Zack!" yelled Linda spontaneously, many eyes in the cafeteria turned to look at her and she sat down quietly.

"Aw… Linda's jealous of Zack." Said Gina.

"Gina…. Do you want me to mention something to a certain someone?" asked Linda, with the intention of silencing her. It had the desired effect as she quieted down quickly and looked at the floor in shame. As we continued eating the cafeteria food I noticed that James was whispering with some of his friends and kept glancing at me, but he didn't look at me with the same cockiness as always, instead it looked like fear or pity even.

"Did you notice?" asked Jake out of the blue.

"What?" I asked.

"He's going to come talk to you, I'm sorry Zack." Said Jake.

"Sorry for what?" I asked again confused, he ignored my question and kept on eating. Well, that's Jake in a nutshell; he says some weird things sometimes. Though the way we met was rather extreme, I was crossing the street and a truck crossed the red light and was about to run me over. Suddenly he came with his skateboard and saved me in the nick of time, we talked for a while and boom, friendship was born.

Last period came and ended quickly and I made my way to the entrance of the school, half hoping that Amy wasn't there but fate isn't so nice to me anymore. Linda mouthed me some words of encouragement while Jake and Gina pushed me to the entrance and left me in front of Amy.

"Hi Zack." Said Amy, this time her smile was somewhat reduced.

"Hi Miss." I said.

"Please call me Amy." Said Amy.

"Now why did you call me here for?" I asked in an impatient tone of voice.

"Hold on mister, first you got to change that attitude!" said Amy in the same tone a mother would use to punish his child.

"What attitude? I'm fine." I said.

She was starting to get on my nerves, though some part of me knew that I was being far too harsh on her, I didn't want to recognize it.

"Hm! Anyway, since I won our little bet. You'll have to go on a date with me." Said Amy as she took a step closer towards me.

"Hey, settle down pinky. Not to insult you or anything but I'm not searching for that kind of relationship just yet." I said as I took a step away from her.

"I'm not asking you, I'm making you keep your end of the bargain." Said Amy with a devilish smile.

"B-b-b-b-but…" I began to say.

Damn, why couldn't I talk? I could just run away and leave her standing there….. but that's not something I would do…. I'm not that kind of guy.

"Isn't that blackmail?" I asked.

"It was your idea." Replied Amy.

Smart girl…. Too smart for my own good.

"F-f-f-fine, just one date." I said, finally sighing in defeat.

"You don't have to look so gloomy, I promise it will be fun." Said Amy.

"What's your age again?" I asked.

"12, why do you ask?" said Amy casually.

12? 12 years old and she's already flirting like this, my god this hedgehog has a problem. I don't want to look like a creep dating a 12 year old, not saying that she's a monster or anything but 12?

"A-a-a-a-amy, don't you think the age difference is too much?" I asked while stuttering.

"Nope, now let's go to the movies!" said Amy as she grabbed my hand and pulled me with her.

**In the movie theater. 1500 hours (3pm)**

As humiliating as it is for me to say, she was much stronger than me and all of my efforts to get away were fruitless. When we arrived at the movies she already had two tickets for a film called Chao in Space 2, heard some good things about it but today was the premier and the tickets ran out months ago.

"W-w-w-wait, w-w-why did y-ou buy the tickets beforehand?" I asked.

"Why are you so nervous, relax." Said Amy with the same smile, I will admit I was kind of getting used to it. We quickly bought a bucket of popcorn, 2 soft drinks and we entered the movie; I quickly glanced around the room to see if there were any familiar faces around, luckily I spotted none. Amy dragged me to the front row and sat me in the middle, all the while I was thinking for a possible explanation as to why she had bought the tickets beforehand. One of them stood out from the rest, but I didn't want to accuse her of something like that.

She was a stalker and she had planned this for months.

"So… Zack, you and Linda are quite the pair aren't you?" asked Amy.

"Whazudahwioswaswhat! I yelled out of the blue.

Seriously, the nerve of some people; just because I spend time with her doesn't mean she's my girlfriend!

"You know, the fox girl from your class." Said Amy, her grin getting wider as she caught sight of my blush.

"Sh-sh-she's not my girlfriend! W-w-w-well I mean…. She's a girl…. And she's my friend, b-but we're not dating!" I said stuttering.

Dammit! Me and my girl issues, why can't they leave me alone; just the mere thought of me and a girl dating makes my knees shake. Not implying that I like boys, but talking to girls is way too hard for me; to that add the fact that she's implying that I like one of my best friends.

"Sure…" said Amy, clearly not satisfied by my answer.

"Amy, what really happened to Mr. Marrow?" I asked, trying to change the topic. At the mention of Mr. Marrow she looked at the floor in shame.

**Meanwhile in the janitor's closet at school. (Normal POV)**

Janitor Wilkins was almost done with the mess left by the students in the hallways, as he headed towards the janitor closet he began hearing several thumping noises, holding his mop as a defense he began looking for the source of the sound.

"Who's there? Show yourselves!" yelled the janitor.

After shouting some more empty threats and looking for the sound he found himself face to face with the closet, he grabbed the handle of the door and opened it to find a rhino tied up with a mountain of sandwiches behind him; in them was a paper that read "Sorry."

"Mphmphph!" yelled Mr. Marrow.

**Back in the cinema. (Zack's POV.)**

"You locked him in the janitor's closet?" I asked in shock.

"I didn't want to do it!" said Amy.

"How did you do it?" I asked curiously.

"I swear it wasn't my… wait what?" asked Amy with a surprised look in her face.

"I mean, Mr. Marrow isn't exactly as light as a feather." I said, earning a chuckle from her part.

"That's just mean." Said Amy.

"Well then you're mean for laughing at it." I replied with a smile.

It's weird, just a moment ago I was all nervous and now I'm talking to her like I would talk to anyone else. However our small talk was interrupted when I received a slap in the cheek.

"How dare you steal Amy from Mr. Sonic." Said a childlike voice.

I turned to my side to see 2 rabbits with an uncanny resemblance; the only difference was in size. The bigger rabbit looked at her daughter in shock and said.

"Cream! That's no way to treat a stranger, say you're sorry miss."

The rabbit, which by now I knew was called Cream said rather shyly. "I'm sorry."

"Uhm, it's no problem." I lied.

Ow! She didn't have to slap me so hard! How will I explain that to my parents, speaking of which I think I should send them a message.

"I'm really sorry about it, it's just that she constantly acts without thinking..." began saying the mother of Cream.

"It's no problem, I know how kids are. I used to be one." I said.

"Cream, did you really have to interrupt my date like that?" asked Amy.

"B-b-b-but I thought that he was trying to steal you from Mr. Sonic." Said Cream shyly.

"Cream… you know I can defend myself." Said Amy with a smile.

"Now wait a second here, you know Sonic the Hedgehog?" I asked.

"Know him? I'm his girlfriend." Said Amy with a smile.

I'm so screwed; stealing one's girlfriend is unforgivable as it is. Now it turns out I steal the girlfriend belonging to the hero who has saved the world countless times?

"We're speaking of the same Sonic right?" I asked quickly.

"Yep." Said Amy.

"Blue blur, too fast for the naked eye, makes a sonic boom?" I asked nervously.

"The same" said Amy.

"Yes, she's Mr. Sonic's girlfriend, but he doesn't know yet." Said Cream with a smile, which caused Amy to look at her in despair.

Phew, dodged that one.

"Now quiet, the movie will start." Said Amy.

**After the movie. 1715 hours (5:15pm) Out of the theater.**

"I can't believe that he was his father all along!" I said to Amy.

"I know! It was tragic, and then he gave his life for him." Replied Amy.

"It's sad really, he lived his whole life in darkness and only in death did he find peace." I said.

The movie was amazing of that I have no doubt, plus believe it or not I had a great time with both Cream's and Amy's reactions to some of the events. Geez, I would've never thought something good would come out of this date.

"Aw, now you're just being gloomy." Said Amy.

"Call me a realist." I replied as I began to laugh.

We walked outside the cinema and said farewell to Cream and her mother, I then decided to check my phone only to see 4 new messages. The first one was dated 3 hours old.

_Sender James_

_Whatever you do, don't go home. Meet me at the arcade at 6._

Now that's weird, why would he say something like that? He probably wants to beat me up at the arcade; I decided to check the other message quickly. This one was dated only 2 hours old.

_Sender Linda._

_Don't go home; meet us in the usual spot at 6. Trust James._

Honestly, at that point I was starting to get freaked out. I already had intentions of heading to the arcade but why the insistence. I fearfully checked the next message; I received it about five minutes ago.

_Sender Uncle Greg._

_Your parents are fine, but you won't be. Get out of the theater._

Amy looked over my shoulder and began seeing all the messages, she then turned around to look at me in confusion.

"What's with all the don't go homes? Are they planning a surprise party or something?" asked Amy.

"I don't know, but I already had the intention of going to the arcade, mind if we get going?" I said.

"Let's go! We wouldn't want to take any chances right?" asked Amy as she grabbed my hand and sped off to the arcade. As we were running I decided to quickly check the last message, it was a voice mail. I played it and only heard two words, the voice seemed familiar somehow but I couldn't place it.

"Friend…. Run."

**At the arcade 1755 hours (5:55pm)**

Amy and I arrived in the arcade rather late; it's kind of hard when it's all the way across town. When we entered I looked immediately towards the usual spot and saw Linda, James, Jake and Gina huddled together. I ran towards them and decided to confront them head on.

"Alright, what's the deal?" I asked, they began looking among themselves nervously until James gave me a paper.

_This is the arrest warrant for Zack ********_

_Under the charges of crimes against the United Federation._

_Wanted dead or alive._

_Order issued by Ashley Bernitz._

"What?" I yelled as the paper fell off my hands.

"My dad sent me this during lunch time; he asked me if you were still there. I lied." Said James nervously.

He… protected me?

"Why?" I asked James.

"I may be trying to make you miserable, but only through fights and insults. Besides, I'm sure a goody two shoes such as you wouldn't pull anything like that off." Said James.

Gina approached me and gave me a sport's bag; I opened it and found clothes, food and some money.

"That's all I could salvage from your home before the military arrived." Said Gina.

"But why am I being arrested?" I asked.

They expect me to run away? Leave everything behind? Why is the military doing this?

"I… don't know." Said Gina while looking at the floor.

I looked at the rest of the group and nearly all of them were doing the same thing, except Linda. She had a big satchel over her shoulder and was looking me straight in the eyes.

"So, should we get going?" she asked.

"Wait what? You aren't going anywhere!" I said rather harshly, James cleared his throat and read another paper he had on his hand.

_This arrest warrant if for Linda ******_

_For conspiracy against the nation._

_Wanted alive for questioning._

_Order Issued by Ashley Bernitz_

Damn that Ashley! Though by now I'm sure that it had something to do with what I said earlier in class, I'm surprised he still has the military authority to issue an arrest order.

"Well what're you waiting for? Get out of the city now!" said Amy as she began to push me and Linda out of the arcade.

"B-b-b-but." I began saying.

"No buts, and don't worry. We'll finish the date later." Said Amy as she winked at me. On the sidewalk I saw Linda's scooter with the key already on ignition, you heard me right ignition, as we got on the scooter I turned around to see the group one final time.

"So long buddy, try to stay alive and visit." Said Jake as he bumped his fist into mine.

"Will do." I replied.

"And Linda, make sure he doesn't get run over by a truck." Said Jake as he looked at me.

To think that he still remembers that, I'm kind of touched actually.

"Not a problem." Said Linda while giving him a thumbs up.

James walked towards us, looking at the floor awkwardly as if he had done something wrong and was waiting for punishment.

"You better come back; we still have a fight pending." Said James with a smirk.

"Why did you help me?" I asked.

"I… honestly don't know. I just feel like I must; make sure to make it back in one piece or else I'll break you down even more." Said James as he cracked his knuckles.

"You'll have to get through me." Said Linda.

"Take care fur bag, don't end in anyone's wall." Said James as he walked back into the arcade.

Coming from James; that might as well be a marriage proposal.

I don't buy it, there must be yet another reason, but I won't push my luck for now. The next one to approach me was Gina.

"You know I'm not good with this goodbye crap….." said Gina in a low voice.

"I know." I said.

"You better be back, or I'll bring you back." Said Gina as she turned away from me and headed into the arcade. For a moment I thought I saw some tears hit the ground, but I ignored the fact when Amy took the cellphone from my hand and set it on the floor, she then took out a hammer and crushed it relentlessly.

"Wait! What're you doing? That's my phone!" I yelled rather loudly.

"They, can, track, you!" yelled Amy as she emphasized each word with a hammer strike. I suddenly started feeling more uncomfortable when being with Amy, to put it simple. Hammer girls are not my type, at the thought she turned around to look at us and said.

"Zack…. Take care."

"You too Amy, good luck with Sonic, with your determination he'll give in." I said. At the mention of the blue hedgehog she looked surprised and asked.

"How did you know?"

"Drawings of Sonic in art class, two tickets to an action film, Cream slapping me. That made it kind of obvious." I said while smiling, she returned the smile and the looked at Linda.

"Sorry we couldn't meet under other circumstances, I'm sure we would've gotten along well." Said Amy.

"Maybe some other time, when we can outrun G.U.N." said Linda with a smirk.

"But where will we go?" I asked that thought had been plaguing my mind for a while now; both Linda and Amy started thinking when out of the blue Jake walked out of the arcade with James and Gina following them.

"Go to the Mystic Ruins, and look for someone called Tails."

"Say what?" I asked, I didn't know who this Tails fellow was nor did I know if he was dangerous. Though Amy's eyes lit up in recognition and told me rather quickly.

"Yes! Go with Tails, he can take care of you until you get the military off your back." Said Amy, she then turned around and started to ask.

"How do you know…. He's gone?"

I looked around and much to my surprise he was gone, though it was not surprising considering he did that on a daily basis. A voice suddenly rang out that made our blood freeze and our spines shiver.

"Freeze!" said a voice far too harsh to belong to any normal citizen.

"Zack, catch!" yelled Gina as she threw me a phone, I barely caught it.

"Off we go!" said Linda as she steeped on the throttle, making me hold on to her for my dear life. We left the others behind rather quickly, but the problem was that this was a huge city and we had no idea where these Mystic Ruins were.

"Do you have any idea where we're going?" I yelled.

"Out of this town, of that I'm sure." Said Linda as she began stepping harder on the throttle. As I managed to open my eyes just a tiny bit I saw a blockade just ahead, they even had tanks. We're they really that desperate to get us?

"Freeze or we will shoot!" said the soldiers simultaneously.

"Zack, you remember the Spine Breaker?" asked Linda.

I did remember it in fact, a rollercoaster that opened only for a day in Twinkle Park. The G-forces in there were comparable to travelling at Mach 1 speeds; they had to close it because many children passed out and others were traumatized for life. I did get on the ride, but I was one of the latter.

"Yeah, why?" I asked, I managed to see the blockade getting closer.

"Because this will be worse, much worse." Said Linda as she turned right violently, showering the soldiers with sparks. She then pressed a green button on the panel and we crashed into a sign that read.

Danger, Highway under construction.

As soon as we entered I figured out this wasn't such a good idea. The highway went up, down, left, right and even in corkscrews.

"What kind of highway is this?" I yelled.

"I don't know and I don't care!" said Linda as a sharp drop came in the highway, soon we saw that several flying droids and soldiers on motorcycles started following us.

"Corkscrew!" I yelled, not a second later I felt the g forces slamming relentlessly against my body, though deep inside I felt extremely thrilled.

"H-h-how fast are we going?" I asked.

"About 200 miles per hour and getting faster." Said Linda.

"Now those are some quick robots!" I said, at that moment an electric ball passed beside my head.

"They're trying to stun us." I said.

"I know, reach into my back pocket." Said Linda, when she said that I hesitated.

"Um, your…. Back pocket?" I asked.

"Yes! Stop being a little kid, this is a life or death situation!" said Linda.

Some much for being a gentleman, I put my hand inside to take out a small gun. Instinctively I aimed at a droid and shot it; at first I didn't see any effect but my thoughts were silenced when the robot rammed itself into another one.

"It's an Electric Magnetic Pulse gun, it messes up their circuits/radars/programming you name it." Said Linda as she narrowly dodged another electric ball.

"Watch out!" I yelled; Linda looked in front of her and saw the huge gap extending in front of her. She pressed a green button, causing the scooter to jump and grind on a rail crossing the gap. I looked behind us and saw that some daring soldiers trying to jump the gap, but failing rather miserably. Luckily for them some of the G.U.N. machines went down to save them; I thought that we had lost all of them.

But then the helicopter came.

At first I thought to myself that this was a bummer, but that in no way possible could get any worse.

Then it started firing at us.

"These guys are insane! They want to kill us!" said Linda.

"If the bring dead or alive wasn't clear enough before now it is." I said to Linda as we entered a tunnel, it was greatly illuminated and it started heading straight down in an 80 degree angle. The drop stopped suddenly as we violently turned right and we were sent flying, at that point I had stopped holding Linda so tight and nearly lost my grip on her. The helicopter had brought new friends and there were now 5, plus a new army of droids.

"This is just like that movie I saw, Death Chase 3." Said Linda.

"How did it end?" I asked her.

"They die." Replied Linda nervously.

"Thanks you make me feel so much better." I replied sarcastically, I was trying to shoot at the helicopters but they would slow down for a second and then they would be back to normal. We were rapidly approaching a dead end and it seemed as if they wouldn't break in time.

"Hold on tight!" said Linda. She then violently turned around and started to drift, stopping just at the edge of the building. The helicopters were approaching quickly and the drones were nearly upon us.

"Zack, I need to tell you something." Said Linda as she looked at me in the eye.

"I need to tell you something too, we're not through yet." I said as I pressed the throttle with the tip of my shoe.

"Are you insane we're going to die!" yelled Linda as we fell through the side of the building, not a second too late since the choppers passed above our heads seconds after we fell.

The problem should've been solved but they had missiles, which were fired at us.

People hate us.

"Missiles!" I yelled.

"I'm going faster….. we're…. not… going… to… make… it!" said Linda, she was starting to get difficulties to talk.

"600….. 700…" began saying Linda. I was started to get really light headed and for a moment I thought that I was about to faint. However as a loud boom was heard I felt myself filled with a sudden surge of energy.

"Sonic boom! Take cover!" yelled the chopper. As I looked above me I saw the choppers spinning around as mad and the droids were falling even faster.

I heard glass shatter as some of the robots went through it, that gave us a chance to get through and arrive at the bottom of the building. As we exited the building I could see a field of green extend in front of us.

"We… did it?" I asked as I was shaking, due to the mixture of adrenaline and fear for my life.

No reply.

"Linda, are you alri…." I began saying, until the scooter crashed against a rock, sending both of us flying. As I fell on the ground I started to feel myself drifting away from the conscious world, several images flashed through my mind, many of them were a mixture of my dreams and memories.

"G-g-g-guess…. I won't be a soldier anytime soon." I whispered.

Wait! That wasn't me, that was Kid's dream. Why did I say it? I saw my hat laying by my side, it was burned and scorched for the most part. Then out of nowhere the hat started to rise from the ground, and the last thing I heard before falling into my sleep was a soft whisper, now hearing it better it had a feminine quality to it.

"Friend."

Hope to meet you soon friend.

**Author's note: Now this is much longer than the one at the start. The plan is for them to try to reach the Mystic Ruins in 3 chapters, they will hopefully be shorter.**

**The story will follow the game timeline, trying to add more depth to some aspects. An example would be. "Did the air fleet in Sonic Heroes manage to destroy anything?" "Where were the chaotix during the SA game?" "Why didn't the military try to stop Robotnik and Chaos?"**

**These are only examples and aren't meant to be taken seriously.**

**No, there will not be any OCxAmy pairing, just because I feel like it I will put Tails as the main character because he'll be the most recurring one.**

**Yes she did it to add more drawings to her collection.**

**Any questions are accepted, reviews are greatly appreciated.**

**Have a nice day.**

**PD: The speed of sound is 768 mph.**


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